Amtrak's Hiawatha Service sets ridership record

For the ninth time in the last decade, Amtrak's Hiawatha Service between Milwaukee and Chicago set a calendar year ridership record.

Last year's ridership of the passenger rail line totaled 832,500 compared to 823,163 the year before, which was the first time the Hiawatha Service surpassed 800,000.

Amtrak schedules seven round trips between Milwaukee's Intermodal Station and Chicago's Union Station Monday through Saturday and six on Sunday with stops at Mitchell International Airport, Sturtevant, near Racine and Glenview, Ill.

According to Amtrak's 2012 fiscal year data, the Hiawatha Service is the busiest Amtrak corridor in the Midwest and the sixth busiest in the nation. Monthly ridership records were set last year in January, February, March, April, June, August, September and October.

The Hiawatha Service is operated by Amtrak and jointly funded by Wisconsin and Illinois.

About Meg Jones

Meg Jones is a general assignment reporter who specializes in military and veterans issues. Meg was part of a team that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2003, and is the author of “World War II Milwaukee.”